Man arrested for murdering neighbor in 2007 to pay back debts

Police said Monday they have arrested a 65-year-old man over the murder of his neighbor in Hiroshima in 2007.

According to police, independent business owner Ryozo Yoshitani, 79, was beaten to death with a blunt object in October 2007 near the front door of his neighbor Kenji Yamada. Yamada denied all knowledge of the incident and the case went unsolved for six years.

However, police now say that they have arrested Yamada for the murder after it came to light that Yoshitani, who was close with Yamada’s mother, reportedly left her his land in a will, TBS reported. Shortly after the incident, Yamada was able to pay back in full a large amount of debt that had accrued in his name.

According to police, Yamada has so far denied the charges. The investigation is ongoing.

Im confused. The victim left the land to the perps MOTHER, not him. So if the victim is dead, how does the perp still get his hands on that land if his Mother is still alive? The Mother simply gave it to him?

I get it: the mother was probably old and frail and when she died all of her property went to her son or maybe he was already the caretaker of the mother's estate, with free will to do as he pleased. The son was about sixty at the time (no spring chicken himself) and was in heavy debt. Not knowing how long it would take for the old man to die, he decided to speed up the process.